26 August, 2010

SITUATION IN SREBRENICA ON 13 JULY 1995

The following article was published by Boca Raton daily, The News, on 13 July 1995, two days after the fall of Srebrenica. This news report was located, scanned, re-typed from newspapers and then sent to us by the Bosniak and Jewish Solidarity. Thank you for your contribution.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - The triumphant Serb commander strode among Srebrenica's captured population Wednesday, patting one boy on the head, as his rebels herded terrified Muslims aboard buses for deportation.

Relishing the latest U.N. humiliation, Gen. Ratko Mladic arrived on the heels of his infantry after they seized the main peacekeeper camp that once protected the civilians of the U.N.-declared "safe area" around Srebrenica.

The Serbs took charge of 40,000 hungry and desperate refugees from Srebrenica who sought refuge at the camp just north of the town, in Potocari. They herded women, children and the elderly aboard buses and trucks, separating them from all men over 16, who were held for interrogation.

The Serb rebels requested fuel for the convoys to territory held by the Muslim-led government, but a U.N. official said that would be denied.

"We are not going to assist this in any way," said Kris Janowski, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. "This is pure ethnic cleansing," we cannot involve ourselves in this."

A main purpose of the U.N. presence in Bosnia was to prevent combatants from persecuting and deporting civilians of other ethnicities. Muslim [Bosniak], Croat and Serb combatants have all been accused of such "ethnic cleansing" and other atrocities, but Serbs have by far received the most blame.

More than 1,500 Srebrenica refugees arrived late Wednesday night at a U.N. air base east of government-held Tuzla. Another 1,500 were expected during the night after the long trek by bus and food. In Tuzla, refugee Zena Hasanovic, 24, said she saw Serb soldiers kill a woman and a 10-year-old boy, but that another rebel soldier had given her the only food she had in two days - a chocolate bar.

Meanwhile, heavy shelling continued in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, killing at least five people and wounding at least 10 on Wednesday.

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Srebrenica Genocide is not a matter of anybody's opinion; it's a judicial fact recognized first by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and subsequently by the International Court of Justice.